Archaeological evidence of settlement at the site, in the Eastern Alps, goes back as far as the Pfyn culture[3] (3900-3500 BC),[4] making Chur one of the oldest settlements in Switzerland. Remains and objects from the Bronze and Iron Ages have been found also in the eastern sector of the current city's centre.

The Roman Empire conquered Raetia in 15 BC. Under emperor Diocletian (late 3rd century AD), the existing settlement of Curia Raetorum was made the capital of the newly established province of Raetia prima.[5] In the 4th century Chur became the seat of the first Christian bishopric north of the Alps. Despite a legend assigning its foundation to an alleged Briton king, St. Lucius, the first known bishop is one Asinio[6] in 451 AD. After the invasion of the Ostrogoths, it was rechristened Theodoricopolis; in the 6th century it was conquered by the Franks.[7] The city suffered several invasions, by the Magyars in 925-926, when the cathedral was destroyed, and by the Saracens (940 and 954), but afterwards it flourished thanks to its location, where the roads from several major Alpine transit routes come together and continue down the Rhine. The routes had been already used under the Romans but acquired greater importance under the Ottonian dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire. Emperor Otto I appointed his vassal Hartpert as bishop of Chur in 958, giving the bishopric numerous privileges. In 1170 the bishop became a prince-bishop and kept total control over the road between Chur and Chiavenna.

In the 13th century the town had some 1,300 inhabitants, and was surrounded by a line of walls. The Gotteshausbund (League of the House of God) was formed in 1367 in Chur to resist the rising power of the Bishopric of Chur and the House of Habsburg. Chur was the chief town of the League and one of the places the Leagues' assemblies met regularly. A burgmeister (mayor) of Chur is first mentioned in 1413, The bishop's residence was attacked by the inhabitants in 1418 and 1422, when a series of concessions were wrung out of him. As the power of the bishops, now increasingly under the influence of the nearby HabsburgCounty of Tyrol, decreased, in 1464 the citizens wrote a constitution which was adopted as the rule for the local guilds and political positions.The League allied with the Grey League and the League of the Ten Jurisdictions in 1471 to form the Three Leagues. In 1489 Chur obtained the right to have a tribunal of its own, but never had the title of Free Imperial City. Chur adhered to the Reformation in the 16th century, and the Catholic bishopric had to leave the city in 1524. In the same century the German language started to prevail over Romansh. Despite two fires in 1464 and 1574, the city developed economically until the Thirty Years' War, when it was destroyed and struck by plagues.

After the Napoleonic Wars, the Three Leagues became the canton of Graubünden in 1803. The guild constitution of the city of Chur lasted until 1839, while in 1874 the Burgergemeinde was replaced by an Einwohnergemeinde. When Graubünden became a canton in 1803, Chur was chosen as its capital.

Chur had an area, (as of the 2004/09 survey) of 28.09 km2 (10.85 sq mi).[1] Of this area, about 17.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while 52.1% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 26.5% is settled (buildings or roads) and 3.9% is unproductive land. Over the past two decades (1979/85-2004/09) the amount of land that is settled has increased by 86 ha (210 acres) and the agricultural land has decreased by 87 ha (210 acres).[8]

Chur is situated at a height of 1,949 ft (594 m) above sea level, on the right bank of the torrent Plessur, just as it issues from the valley Schanfigg, and about a mile above its junction with the Rhine, almost entirely surrounded by the Alps, overshadowed by the Mittenberg (northeast) and Pizoggel (southwest), hills that guard the entrance to the deep-cut valley Schanfigg.

The modern part of the city is to the west, while the old portion, with all the historical buildings, is to the east. Here is the cathedral church of St Luzius (who is the patron saint of Coire, and is supposed to be a 2nd-century British king Lucius, though in reality the name probably arose from a confusion between Lucius of Cyrene, miswritten curiensis, with the Roman general Lucius Munatius Plancus, who conquered Raetia).

St. Maria Himmelfahrt (cathedral of the Assumption)

Built between 1178 and 1282, on the site of an older church, it contains many curious medieval antiquities (especially in the sacristy), as well as a picture by Angelica Kauffman, and the tomb of the great Grisons political leader (d. 1637) Jenatsch. Opposite is the Bishop's Palace, and not far off, is the Episcopal Seminary (built on the ruins of a 6th-century monastic foundation). Not far from these ancient monuments is the new Raetian Museum, which contains an extensive collection of objects relating to Raetia (including the geological collections of the Benedictine monk of Disentis Abbey, Placidus a Spescha (1752–1833), who explored the high snowy regions around the sources of the Rhine). One of the hospitals was founded by the famous Capuchin philanthropist, Theodosius Florentini (1808–1865), who was for a long time the Romanist cure of Coire, and whose remains were in 1906 transferred from the cathedral here to Ingenbohl (near Schwyz), his chief foundation. The Romano-Gothic cathedral, where lie the remains of Jörg Jenatsch, was begun by Bishop Tello (758-73), and has a highly interesting crypt; it contains some remarkable paintings by Dürer and Holbein.

Chur is home to many buildings or other sites that are listed as Swiss heritage sites of national significance. There are two archeological sites in Chur, the old city which is a medieval city and Welschdörfli a prehistoric settlement and RomanVicus. There are four archives or libraries; the bishop's palace (library and archive), the Cantonal Library, the Cantonal Archive of Graubünden and the city archive of Chur. There are also four museums on the list; the Bündner Kunstmuseum (Art Museum), Bündner Naturmuseum (Natural History Museum), the Dommuseum and the Rätisches Museum in the Haus Buol. Three churches are included in the list; The cathedral of the Assumption, the Catholic Church of St. Luzi and the Reformed church of St. Martin. There are 15 other buildings that are also heritage sites; these include the Alte Kaserne at Zeughaus 3 (the Old Armory), the Confederation Paper Mill, the Main Post Office, the new Town Hall, headquarters of the Rhätischen Bahn and several old patrician houses.[9]

The town is home to the Giger Bar designed by the Swiss artist H. R. Giger, the Old Town, the art gallery, and the natural history museum.

Chur has a population (as of 31 December 2015) of 34,652.[2] In 2008, 17.8% of the population was made up of foreign nationals,[10] by 2014 that number was 19.2%. Over the last 4 years (2010-2014) the population has changed at a rate of 2.34%. The birth rate in the municipality, in 2014, was 9.2, while the death rate was 10.0 per thousand residents.[8] Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks German (81.0%), with Romansh being second most common (5.4%) and Italian being third (5.1%).[11]

As of 2000[update], the gender distribution of the population was 47.9% male and 52.1% female.[12] The age distribution, as of 2000[update], in Chur is; 3,087 children or 9.4% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old. 1,602 teenagers or 4.9% are 10 to 14, and 2,194 teenagers or 6.7% are 15 to 19. Of the adult population, 4,770 people or 14.5% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 5,517 people or 16.7% are 30 to 39, 4,616 people or 14.0% are 40 to 49, and 4,254 people or 12.9% are 50 to 59. The senior population distribution is 3,090 people or 9.4% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 2,314 people or 7.0% are 70 to 79, there are 1,307 people or 4.0% who are 80 to 89, there are 233 people or 0.7% who are 90 to 99, and 5 people who are 100 or more.[10]

In 2015 there were 15,557 single residents, 13,722 people who were married or in a civil partnership, 1,948 widows or widowers, 3,423 divorced residents and 2 people who did not answer the question.[13]

In 2014 there were 16,970 private households in Chur with an average household size of 2.00 persons. Of the 3,792 inhabited buildings in the municipality, in 2000, about 37.8% were single family homes and 39.7% were multiple family buildings. Additionally, about 20.5% of the buildings were built before 1919, while 8.8% were built between 1991 and 2000.[14] In 2013 the rate of construction of new housing units per 1000 residents was 7.71. The vacancy rate for the municipality, in 2015[update], was 0.6%.[8]

In the 2015 federal election the most popular party was the SVP with 26.4% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP (26.0%), the CVP (13.7%) and the FDP (12.1%). In the federal election, a total of 11,102 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 45.4%.[16]

In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SP which received 34% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (31.8%), the CVP (16.4%) and the FDP (16.3%).[11]

As of 2014[update], there were a total of 32,448 people employed in the municipality. Of these, 108 people worked in 26 businesses in the primary economic sector. A majority (68.5%) of the primary sector employees worked in very small businesses (less than ten employees). The remainder worked in 2 small businesses with a total of 34 employees. The secondary sector employed 3,645 workers in 345 separate businesses. A minority (21.2%) of the secondary sector employees worked in very small businesses. There were 75 small businesses with a total of 1,731 employees and 12 mid sized businesses with a total of 1,141 employees. Finally, the tertiary sector provided 28,695 jobs in 3,375 businesses. In 2014 a total of 16,854 employees worked in 3,306 small companies (less than 50 employees). There were 65 mid sized businesses with 9,093 employees and 4 large businesses which employed 2,748 people (for an average size of 687).[17]

In 2014 a total of 7.7% of the population received social assistance.[8]

In 2015 local hotels had a total of 152,629 overnight stays, of which 47.8% were international visitors.[18]

There were two movie theaters in the municipality, in 2015, with a total of 4 screens and 736 seats.[19]

From the 2000 census[update], 14,713 or 44.6% are Roman Catholic, while 12,199 or 37.0% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there are 15 individuals (or about 0.05% of the population) who belong to the Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland, there are 589 individuals (or about 1.79% of the population) who belong to the Orthodox Church, and there are 532 individuals (or about 1.61% of the population) who belong to another Christian church. There are 13 individuals (or about 0.04% of the population) who are Jewish, and 917 (or about 2.78% of the population) who are Muslim. There are 424 individuals (or about 1.29% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), 1,998 (or about 6.06% of the population) belong to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 1,589 individuals (or about 4.82% of the population) did not answer the question.[10]

In 2014 the crime rate, of the over 200 crimes listed in the Swiss Criminal Code (running from murder, robbery and assault to accepting bribes and election fraud), in Chur was 68.6 per thousand residents, only slightly higher than the national average of 64.6 per thousand. During the same period, the rate of drug crimes was 15.7 per thousand residents, which is about one and half times the national rate. The rate of violations of immigration, visa and work permit laws was 2.4 per thousand residents, or about half the national rate.[20]

Chur has an oceanic climate in spite of its inland position. Summers are warm and sometimes hot, normally averaging around 25 °C (77 °F) during the day, whilst winter means are around freezing, with daytime temperatures being about 5 °C (41 °F). Between 1961 and 1990 Chur had an average of 105.7 days of rain per year and on average received 814 mm (32.0 in) of precipitation. The wettest month was August during which time Chur received an average of 103 mm (4.1 in) of precipitation. During this month there was precipitation for an average of 11.6 days. The driest month of the year was March with an average of 47 mm (1.9 in) of precipitation over 8.2 days.[21]

^"Climate Norm Value Tables". Climate diagrams and normals from Swiss measuring stations. Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology (MeteoSwiss). Archived from the original on 14 May 2013. Retrieved 23 January 2013.